JOHANNESBURG (AP)--East Timor independence leader Jose "Xanana"
Gusmao had an emotional reunion with Nelson Mandela Wednesday - the first
meeting between the two since Gusmao was released from an Indonesian
prison last September.

Draped in a gold-and-black East Timorese scarf presented by Gusmao,
Mandela expressed delight that the man he had visited in prison in 1997 in
Indonesia was now free.

"I'm happy that he is now out and he is busy trying to rebuild his
country," Mandela told reporters as he stood next to Gusmao.

Gusmao, who is widely expected to become East Timor's first head of
state, said that during his struggle to liberate East Timor from
Indonesian military occupation and during his seven years imprisonment, he
often thought of Mandela's sacrifices to overthrow apartheid.

"The example of the great man Nelson Mandela was an inspiration to
me," Gusmao said of Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison in
white-ruled South Africa.

Mandela, who won South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994 and
retired as president last year, admitted he was a little envious of Gusmao.

"His political career lies in front of him. Mine lies
behind," Mandela said. The two men met at Mandela's home in the
Houghton suburb of Johannesburg.

Earlier Wednesday, Gusmao met with President Thabo Mbeki, who promised
that South Africa would continue to support East Timor during its
transition to independence and beyond.

Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria that immediate assistance would
include diplomatic pressure to stop the arming and training of
anti-independence militia.

South Africa has already agreed to a U.N. request to help rebuild East
Timor's public administration and police.

Gusmao said East Timor needed diplomatic pressure to stop
destabilization efforts and training programs to help the East Timorese
run their country.

"We need security to make sure than transition to independence
goes smoothly. This means that groups in the Indonesian military must stop
helping the militia," he said.

--- Agence France Presse March 29, 2000, Wednesday

South Africa stands by East Timor PRETORIA, March 29 South Africa will
help East Timor rebuild itself after it 24-year struggle for independence,
President Thabo Mbeki said Wednesday after meeting the territory's veteran
resistance leader Xanana Gusmao.

Gusmao told reporters that his one-day working visit to South Africa
was to thank Pretoria for its support of the independence struggle and to
ask for continued assistance as war-ravaged East Timor becomes a free
nation.

"We need security to make sure than transition to independence
goes smoothly.

"This means that groups in the Indonesian military must stop
helping the (anti-independence) militia," said Gusmao, leader of the
National Council of Timorese Resistance, who arrived Wednesday after a
trip to neighbouring Mozambique.

"We also came to ask for help in building human resources as we
come from a long period of activism," he added.

Mbeki said South Africa would take up the security issue with the
Indonesian government.

This would include diplomatic pressure to stop the arming and training
of anti-independence militia, he said.

South Africa would also query the slow delivery of EU support to East
Timor at the African summit with the European Union in Cairo next week,
Mbeki said.

He said South Africa had already agreed to a United Nations' request to
help rebuild East Timor's public administration and police.

The UN Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) took over
authority of East Timor from the Indonesian government in October has
estimated that independence would come only in two to three years.

Gusmao, who was imprisoned by Indonesian authorities in 1992 and
released last year, later paid an emotional visit to former president
Nelson Mandela, who had called in 1998 for his release from prison.

"I'll never forget the time Mandela walked into the prison and
asked the warder to see me. It really touched me," Gusmao said
afterwards.

He said Mandela, himself a political prisoner for 27 years, was an
inspiration to him and the people of East Timorese.

"The East Timorese people must follow his (Gusmao) courage and
fight for freedom," Mandela said.

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